Sorting is the collection of data in a certain structure such as ascending or descending order. With the help of the sorting algorithms, we can organise the data in series and explore a component efficiently and quickly. In this article, we will learn more about sorting techniques and the differences between them. Let’s discuss the difference between quick sort and merge sort.
What is Quick Sort?
Quicksort is an internal and comparison-based algorithm that pursues the divide and conquer strategy to sort the arrays. It is also known as partition exchange sort. In quick sort, we mostly prefer a pivot (key) for resembling and partitioning the components in the array.
The elements which have less value as compared to the pivot will shift to the left side. On the other hand, the elements which have greater value as compared to the pivot will shift to the right side of the pivot. The left and right sections are known as the left and right partitions, respectively.
What is Merge Sort?
Merge sort is an external algorithm that also prefers the ‘divide and conquer technique’. It divides the array into two parts. It sorts the array separately and merges them concurrently to construct the sorted array.
Difference between Quick Sort and Merge Sort
| S.No. | Quick Sort | Merge Sort |
| 1. | It follows the divide and conquer method. | It also follows the divide and conquer method. |
| 2. | Here, we sort the components by comparing each component with the pivot. | It splits the array into two segments or subarrays on repetition until one component is left. |
| 3. | It is inefficient for large arrays as compared to the merge sort. | It is more efficient as compared to the quick sort. |
| 4. | It is an internal sorting technique. | It is an external sorting technique. |
| 5. | The time complexity for the worst case is O (n2). | The time complexity for the worst case is O (n log n). |
| 6. | The quick sort is mostly preferred for large unsorted arrays. | The merge sort is mostly applicable for the linked lists. |
| 7. | It is an unstable sort algorithm. We have to make it stable by changing the code. | It is a stable sort algorithm. |
| 8. | Here we do not need any additional space to execute the task. | Here we need additional space to perform operations. |
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